$300K skating rink proposed for Strawbery Banke

By Elizabeth Dinan

edinan@seacoastonline.com

January 28, 2013 - 4:48 PM

PORTSMOUTH — A skating rink is being proposed for the grounds of Strawbery Banke Museum that would be frozen by a “chilling compressor system” and regularly resurfaced by a Zamboni, while winter revelers could warm themselves at a nearby fire pit, watch skaters from a “viewing area,” and nosh at an affiliated “pop-up restaurant.”

Proposed as being named Puddle Dock Pond at Strawbery Banke, the rink compound would cost an estimated $300,000, said Portsmouth financial planner Jeff Keefe, one of the project planners.

A lifelong skater on Seacoast ponds and rinks, Keefe said he's gazed through his office window overlooking Strawbery Banke for the past seven years and thought it was the perfect place for a skating rink. Keefe said a public rink could serve as a winter “gathering hub” and “for the most part, would be there for the community.”

Skating clubs could be formed, skates could be rented, and because the rink would be professionally maintained, Keefe said, world-class skaters could be hired to give local performances. Skates could be rented to locals, as well as out-of-town tourists staying at city hotels, Keefe said.

“There are so many opportunities this creates,” Keefe said. “It will be an opportunity for the community as a whole.”

If the money is raised, the skating pond, fire pit and restaurant would open in December and every year thereafter, it would all be dismantled in the spring for warm-weather activities to resume on museum grounds, Keefe said.

The plan was unveiled to South Enders Sunday night during the annual meeting of the Friends of the South End. According to Esther Kennedy — a city councilor, South End resident and member of the Friends group — it was the first abutters had heard of the proposal.

“No one expected it,” Kennedy said. “No one had been thinking about ice skating.”

According to Kennedy, South End residents she spoke with generally like the idea, but have initial concerns about nighttime lighting, parking, and whether or not the $300,000 can be raised. Kennedy also said South Enders questioned what, if any preference would be given to residents for use of the proposed rink.

She said the proposal is too new for most of the neighbors to have formed an overall opinion yet.

“No one's had time to process it at this point,” she said.

One resident, who asked not to be named, expressed concern that the plan could negatively affect the financial health of Strawbery Banke Museum, which has recently been profitable through the Heritage Houses program. That program has been making money for the museum through rehabilitation of the top floors of historic homes on the museum property, then renting the spaces to residential and commercial tenants.

Many South Enders have contributed to the project to keep the neighborhood museum financially afloat.

Keefe said it was a year ago when he decided to stop day dreaming about the skating pond and wrote a letter to Strawbery Banke director Larry Yerdon to tell him about it. He said not only has he had Yeardon's support, but other people had the same vision at the same time.

One of them is Kittery, Maine, restaurateur Donna Ryan, who also did not return a message seeking her comment on Monday.

Keefe said the team of planners has grown and now includes a volunteer designer, public relations professional, civil engineer and construction contractor. The rink, said Keefe, would be owned by the museum as a “museum asset.”

To pay for it, he said, planners are talking with members of the business community about sponsorships.

“We are in conversations with a couple of big names,” he said.

Planners are also expected to approach city officials about the possibility of municipal involvement.

Keefe said free skating times would be available to the public, while there would be fees associated with skating at other times.

Planners, he said, have ruled out a simple ice rink made with boards and a garden hose because they want to offer “a structured program” that would allow professional skating “even if it's 60 degrees outside and raining.”